The local authority has now pledged to monitor the rat population and the number of calls over the next three months to allay fears.

"Bromsgrove has always provided a free service. Now residents have phoned me up to complain about these charges," said Coun Wilson. "There's a concern that people just won't bother to phone up and report sightings of rats."

One of his constituents, aged in his 60s, complained about the charges after reporting a rat feeding from his bird table. The council will continue in its statutory duty to check sewers for rats.

Bromsgrove pollution manager Fred Collin said although the number of reports of rat sightings had dropped slightly, nobody had refused to pay.

He said the #35 charge was well below those adopted by commercial rat catchers.